Updated Report :

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Hill Valley
Distributions
(An Ecommerce Website)

Word Count:

Academic Year 2017-18

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Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………….3
A. Investigation
a. The Topic……………………………………………………………….3
b. The Goal………………………………………………………………..4
c. How the Global Context comes into play……………………………...4
d. Prior Knowledge and Subject Specific Knowledge……………………5
e. Demonstrating Research Skills…………………………………………5
B. Planning
a. Product Criteria…………………………………………………………6
b. Process Plan…………………………………………………………….7
c. Demonstrating Self Management Skills………………………………..9
C. Taking Action
a. Creating the Product…………………………………………………..10
b. Connecting the product to the goal, global context and criteria……...10
c. Demonstrating Thinking Skills……………………………………….11
d. Demonstrating Communication Skills and Social Skills……………..11
D. Reflecting
a. Evaluating the product against product criteria……………………….13
b. Knowledge and understanding of the topic and global context
developed……………………………………………………………...16
c. Development as an IB learner…………………………………………18
Supporting Document
Appendices:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
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H
I
J
Bibliography
Product Pictures
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Investigation
The Topic
Ever since I was a kid, i used to wonder how my father and mother sold jewelry and cosmetics
with such ease. As I grew up, I started to help my mother keep stalls in exhibitions. And as time
passed I learnt about selling products and started selling products to customers during my
mother’s exhibition and as a result I gained interest in selling products. This improved my way
of communication and also killed my boredom. Soon when I reached 8th grade, I developed an
interest in using technology to sell products as it was very challenging for me to learn technology
as I have always worked with pens and books with minimal use of technology and always
wondered how people created e-commerce websites like flipkart and amazon. For the past 1-2
years I have been learning about the basics of business and technology but never got the chance
and time to build an ecommerce website. The personal project was ideal in every way for
creating an ecommerce website.

The Goal
The goal for my project is ​“To research on current e-commerce website and create and design
my own ecommerce website focusing on beauty and health products”​. ​The goal benefits me in
3 ways.
1. It allows me to develop my technical skills.
2. Choosing to create an ecommerce website gives me a more challenging work to do.
3. It allows me to develop in the subject ​“Business studies and Design”​.
I have decided that the product should be completed during the month of october after research
as this will give me time to check my product for any faults. I have chosen to conduct my
personal project in the topic of business studies and design, as I had keen interest in it, which
also gives me more opportunities for developing my skills.Before considering a personal project,
I was already somewhat interested in business studies, math and design and I always spent my
free time with my father and mother learning about the perfume/jewelry/deodorants business.
My initial goal of starting up a business of selling products was not highly challenging and also
had a small scope of learning but to decide to create an ecommerce website made the project
more challenging and also gave me scope of learning new concepts and skills. ​Refer to
Appendix A
How the Global Context comes into play
The global context for this project is “​Scientific and Technical Innovation​” because my project is
about innovating a new ecommerce website focusing on health and beauty products by the
means of business studies and design (technology) which uses existing software.This limits my
goal to research, designing and creation of the e-commerce website so, the inquiry question
“How to design and create a cost efficient e-commerce website”​ correlates with the global
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context. To create an ecommerce website I am referring to the existing e-commerce websites and
also using website developing tools to create a website in a creative way. During the process of
choosing the global context, I encountered two global context which could have been chosen for
my goal, those were scientific and technical innovation and globalisation and sustainability. I did
not choose globalisation and sustainability as my global context because my goal is more about
innovating an ecommerce website which relates to “​How do we understand the worlds in which
we live?” which signifies that in today’s modern world of technology, we should understand
technology, that can be shown by creating an ecommerce website to meet the modern world​.
The goal does not focus more on interconnectedness through an ecommerce website, although
there is a connection in marketing and commercializing. ​Refer to appendix G

Prior Knowledge and Subject Specific Knowledge

I had some prior learning before I started my project, and this included very basic knowledge of
website building tools which I learnt during my summer vacations by joining computer classes
for 15 days. During this period, I learned the basics of using online tools like weebly, wix and
wordpress to create basic websites. As i only joined the classes for 15 days ,after the tenth day of
training they started with advanced tools training which was more complicated than wix​[1]​. I
faced a lot of difficulties,because of which i had to quit early. This training helped me understand
the basic technique of website making softwares which made my work more efficient (​Refer to
Appendix A2 for the use of prior learning in the creation of the product​). I also learnt basic
knowledge of business studies which I learnt from my father and mother, this included the topics
scarcity, organizations, supply and demand, GST​[2]​, government policies and taxes. This helped
me create my success criteria (in terms of legality) and also helped me analyze the trend of the
products in the current market. In terms of subject​ specific knowledge, what I have learned in
mathematics is the most useful for the project, as in my e-commerce website, the best way to
attract customers is to reduce the cost of the product which will attract customers but to also keep
some share of profit with yourselves. I will be using a variety of different calculations in order to
achieve my goal. One such calculation is for calculating the percentage discount given on the
maximum retail price of the product, which will come under the topic profit and loss. This will
be useful as it will help me calculate my products selling price with a certain percent share of my
profit. Economics has also helped me with the graphing of demand and supply, taxation policy of
government and effective strategy to increase the sale of the business. Design has also helped me
to develop my plan for the project which will help me be organized. The last but not the least, the
skills that I have learned in Approaches To Learning (ATL) lessons are the most important for
the project like Self ​management skills which includes time management will help us to submit
our work on time and completing the work efficiently which will make everything organized.
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-------------------------
[1]​
Wix is an online website making tool..
[2]​
GST is also known as “Goods and Service Tax” which is tax levied on goods and services.

Demonstrating Research Skills

The first stage of any research is creating a plan focusing on what you want to research.So, I
started my research by inquiring about the current e-commerce websites and their features. I
maintained a process journal which contained all the information I have gathered from my
research. This helped me make my ecommerce website and my report. I found many existing
websites and understood their marketing strategy and display. The sources were deobazaar,
nykaa, biuky, amazon, flipkart and ebay. Then I presented my research in the form of a word
document, image and PPT. After the completion of this, I interpreted the data, and judged it by
making relevant connections of the research data with my goal and my global context, following
to which I removed the data which was not relevant.
The primary research was an online research and an interview. During this research I gained
knowledge of the existing tools to make an ecommerce website, I also observed the main pages
required in the e-commerce website by looking at the existing website and comparing each
website and listing down their pages according to my need with changes in their design. In this
process I used many different sources such as news articles ,images of the structure of successful
e-commerce website and many more, all these were found online. Every Time I used a source, i
evaluated their reliability and commented how it is reliable or not-reliable (​Refer to appendix
A​). After the research, I interviewed with a businessman (Raj Jain) and a business woman
(Santosh Dungarwal) who sell goods online. This interview was on the aspect of budget and
products for the e-commerce website. During the interview I discussed about the process they
used to sell their goods online. Later I had a chat with Mr.Mohit,who is an ecommerce website
maker, to discuss about the procedures that need to be followed and the important aspects of
creating an ecommerce website. ​Refer to appendix E ​for choosing the final website maker tool.
The secondary research was a newspaper advertisement, online research and ebooks. During the
online research, I mainly searched for youtube videos that can teach me how to make an
ecommerce website using online tools such as magento, woocommerce, zencommerce and
shopify ​(“How to Build Magento Website Step by Step for Beginners.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 July 2016,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sWeRiEJC70​.)​ ​I also browsed through web for the process to create an
ecommerce website and found many informative websites that can help me work on my pages
for the personal project. I used the e-books ​“E-commerce Strategy : Text and Cases by Sanjay
Mohapatra” ​and ​“E-commerce: The Cutting Edge Of Business by Kamlesh K Bajaj”​. These
e-books were very helpful as it contained information about every aspect of e-commerce. I also
viewed various newspaper advertisements of e-commerce sites which helped me understand the
way to advertise my products. In the technology section of the newspaper, I learned about the
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various softwares coming up. This made me understand the use of technology and guided me
while developing the ecommerce website. ​Refer to Appendix B​ for Primary and secondary data
collection.
Planning
The Success Criteria
The success criteria for my product is one of the most important steps during “planning”, as this
measure how successful my product will be. ​Refer to appendix C​ for success criteria.
The criteria I made are best fitted for this project as it guides me on how the website should be
designed. This can be seen in the criteria A, B and D which shows how the website should be
designed with definite statements of each part of the website. If all the criteria are met then the
website will be of high quality with easy functionality and majority of positive user experience
with online shopping.
The Action Plan
I created plans for the project, in which I discussed about what should be done, when and how. I
have accomplished it with explanations for each task and the method used. This helped me meet
my deadlines and manage my task with a greater efficiency. There were two plans, the long term
plan and the short term plan. The long term plan included the task to be done in a detailed way
whereas short term plan included the way to complete the task faster. ​Refer to appendix D for
long term and short term plan. ​I also made a plan in the form of Gannt chart that focuses on
creation of the product (​Refer to appendix F for gannt chart​).
Demonstrating Self-Management Skills
Self-Management skills is one of the most important skill which should be developed during the
personal project journey as it helps you maintain your time and energy. This skill has been one of
the toughest skill for me to learn even before the personal project because I never manage my
time and start my task 1-2 days before my deadline so, this is one skill I have developed
immensely during the personal project. I had set some goals to improve the skill I am lacking at,
such as managing my time for both personal project and school assignments and reducing any
form of distractions to the maximum, this included using mobile phone, playing games and many
more. There are lots of distractions which are present when we do any task, which delays its
completion,So, before I start any task, I create efficient plans to remove those distractions and
complete my task. ​Refer to appendix D​ for long term and short term plans.
Although I followed my distraction plan during the personal project, I had a halt in my project
due to heavy academic burden and was also suffering from “Dengue”, which took me three
weeks to fully recover. This halted my project but later I started working regularly on my
personal project and completed other task at school on or before the deadline. I did this by
creating weekly planner for assignments, and worked on completion of these task everyday. This
was important as it helped me check my progress each week and motivated me to complete all
the task. This gave me time to work on my personal project, and after a few days I was back on
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track. During the project I learnt different ways to reduce the time and energy required to
complete the task by making efficient plans, which helped me complete my work before
deadlines. I created a process journal for my personal project which contained all the work I have
done. This helped me reflect on the learning process and it made sure I did not repeat any
mistakes (​Refer to Appendix A for the reflection on learning processes​). To reduce stress and
anxiety, I followed many plans such as meditation, which helped me concentrate on my task and
promoted positive thinking, and I also played with my small brother which greatly released my
stress. I had various learning techniques such as internet, books, youtube and interviews with
people on the same field. I used various softwares for website creation like wix, and used the
technology effectively and productively by learning more about the website making tools. I
conducted three interviews on the tools I will require so before the interview itself, I framed
questions which were related to the topic, therefore I organized my interview questions so that
my work will be convenient and efficient. I had also planned each supervisor meeting
beforehand to make my meeting more efficient. ​Refer to appendix G​ for supervisor meeting. I
have also created a detailed success criteria which showcases the content, functionality, legal
content and attractiveness, I should add in my product. While I was creating my ecommerce
website, I tried various techniques to meet my success criteria,especially the attractiveness,
however it failed many times as it always had something missing like color, text or animation.
However, I analysed the causes for failure by self assessment and tried to make the website
better and better.
Creating The Solution
Creating The Product
The product I have made for my personal project is an ecommerce website focusing on health
and beauty product. ​Refer to Appendix F​ for Gantt Chart. Refer to the product pictures at the
end of the report.
The creation of the e-commerce website took approximately a month of hard work. As explained
in the gantt chart, I divide the creating part into 3 sections (Gathering, Creating and Final Edits).
Refer to appendix E​ for tool selection.This helped me to manage my work and know where I
stand. ​See appendix A.
Connecting The Product to Goal, Global Context and Criteria
The product achieved my goal, which is ​“To research on current e-commerce website and
create and design my own ecommerce website focusing on beauty and health products”​.​My
goal focused on 3 important words, which were research, create and design.
The “research” part of my goal was completed in the “investigation” part of my project, where in
I researched on current ecommerce website like ebay, flipkart, nykaa and amazon etc. Then I
evaluated my research by analysing each point.
The “design” part of my goal was completed in “planning” and “creating the solution”, by
designing different sketches based on my research and creativity. I also created a sample
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ecommerce website using a free online website builder, wix. Using “wix” I learned about the
various graphics used in an ecommerce website like product picture slider, search engine
optimization and cart view etc.
The “create” part of my goal was completed in “creating the solution” stage, wherein I used an
online website builder, zen commerce, to build a website as this website builder fits my budget
and looked appealing. The problem I faced while building the website was that, it involved some
coding (because of my budget I had to buy the website builder from this website). But to
overcome this problem, I planned a short class, in which I saw youtube videos on basic coding
and also saw video’s provided by zen commerce. This greatly helped me make my website.
The research work also played a major role in shaping my product. As my research on existing
e-commerce website helped me understand the ways I can develop my website. The research on
e-commerce website features helped me understand the way websites function. So research
implementation has played a crucial role in making the e-commerce website and expanding my
knowledge in the subjects connected to it. ​Refer to appendix B​ for research data collection
method.
The global context “Scientific and Technical Innovation” connects technology, community and
sustainability and how the local actions connect with our surroundings. Whatever I have done
clearly reflects on my intention of choosing this global context, I particularly chose this global
context because I think that in the current world conditions, people and technology should learn
to live together in harmony. Though it has not been achieved yet, but my project will surely
make an impact. ​Refer to appendix G​ for in depth analysis of global context and product
relation.
The criteria I developed, was very useful in creating my product as it detailed in every aspect of
the product which made it convenient. One such example is the first criteria which is “Content”,
it detailed on what information should be seen by the user such as contact information, feedback
page, price listing, simple sentences and shipping details etc.
Demonstrating Thinking Skills
Thinking skills is a very important part of any process. Without thinking skills we can’t “solve
problems, make decisions, ask questions, construct plans, evaluate ideas, organise information
and create objects”. During the research on my project, I critically analysed and interpreted the
data to make a logical conclusion of my product. This influenced my goal statement and made it
more straightforward. During the research I also evaluated various designs of e-commerce
website and then generated different designs with the help of my “research on current
e-commerce website” and my own creativity. Some designs included a sound which could be
played when opening the website and some included an AI system that could comprehend the
users need and chose the product which would best fit the user. Though some ideas were
impossible to execute in the real world, but had a clear essence of creativity. Each design I made
was analysed based on its connection to the goal and global context. Then these designs were
tested with some of my peers and then from the information I received, I made generalized
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conclusions. When I was choosing my final website making tool, I critically analysed the tools
which I thought of using, my preferred tool was shopify (​Refer to appendix E​).This helped me
make the final decision of choosing my final website maker tool which altered my thinking and
led me to choose a more productive and appealing tool which suits my budget, criteria and goal.
After every research, I evaluated the source using the CRAAP format (​Refer to Appendix A for
evaluation of sources and creation of inquiry sources​). I also justified what I want to research
and why in ​Appendix B​. After my interview with Mr. Mohit, a successful website developer, I
had a new perspective / understanding of an ecommerce website as he helped me understand
what actually is needed in the website and how it is made on a professional level. I also
interpreted the data from multiple surveys from various users, to identify how my website has
impacted them using pie charts and bar charts. (​Refer to appendix I for survey and interview
data​). I applied my skills and knowledge in an unfamiliar situation where I used my research of
current e-commerce website and subject specific knowledge to generate a new ecommerce
website. Based on the current ecommerce website research my project took a new direction as
previously my design were very simple, however after the research my design became even more
complex and appealing like adding animations and different fonts. The prior knowledge I had
about this project was very helpful as while making the e-commerce website there were many
terminologies such as SEO​[3]​, SSL​[4]​ and domain which I already learnt during the computer
classes which made my work very convenient. Another example of transfer skills was that the
website builder has automatic market graph which shows the number of products sold and the
total amount received in the form of graph. This was an unfamiliar situation as I don’t know how
to calculate the total profit from the graph itself. To solve this issue, I used my knowledge of
profit and loss concept. The concept was simple, the total selling price of the product subtracted
with the total cost price will give the total profit(if positive)/loss(if negative). The website I have
made has accomplished the purpose of creating it. However there are still many improvements to
be done such as implementing a highly secure SSL, with does not reduce the user's security and
adding more colorful and attractive content, which would make it look more appealing. The e
commerce trend I have looked at, after my research has helped me understand the future
possibilities to the ecommerce website. The trends which are the most significant is creation of
app, social commerce, consumer fragmentation and same-day delivery. So, there is a greater
scope of learning more new concepts and skills. ​Refer to appendix J for reasonable conclusion
and generalisation.
Demonstrating Communication and Social Skills
My communication and social skills have grown during the project. Before the project started my
communication and social skills were finite. The reason behind this was that I was very shy and
faced many problems to talk to and convince people. I always tried to avoid doing work in
groups or pairs. During my personal project I was able to bring myself out of my comfort zone
and develop my communication skills, as my project consisted of a lot of communication. The
communication in my project started in the first week, which was meeting the supervisor. In the
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meeting we discussed about the progress and received feedback. ​Refer to appendix G​ for
interaction with supervisor. In my process journal, I always added a summary section which gave
a brief information of what I have done on that particular day (​Refer to Appendix A​)
The ways my communication skills developed was through email, talking to people (experts,
supervisors and etc), calling, messaging, and verbally communicating with distributor, shipping
executives and customers. The reason behind communicating with these many people was that
e-commerce website is not a one man show. It needs many different people, therefore
communication and socializing is very important. The more people you know, the more
connections you make, which helps you develop.
I collaborated with peers and experts in classroom environments and digital environments such
as gmail to develop my project. During this period of time I listened to others perspective and
ideas and received meaningful feedbacks. I also received plenty of feedback from the MYP
coordinator, Ms. Ingur S, and Personal Project coordinator , Ms. Bindiya J.
I have also improved on the decision making skill which could be seen in ​Appendix E​. In this
we could see that I made the final decision and took full responsibility of my action of choosing
the website maker tool.

------------------------------------------------
[1]​
SEO is also known as “Search Engine Optimization” which is a process used to affect the online visibility of a website.
[2]​
SSL is also known as “Secure Socket Layer” which is used to provide security in a website.

Prior to the personal project I was able to listen to other ideas, and use a variety of sources to
some extent. I have developed those skills further in this project, and also used and interpreted a
range of terminologies. It is noticeable that i have used a variety of sources, such as youtube
videos,
documents related to e-commerce, textbooks, interviews with experts, surveys and online
research. ​Refer to appendix B and I.

Reflecting
Evaluating the product against the criteria
When my product, which is an ecommerce website, was completed, I was able to reflect and
analyze on the process and outcome. The product has achieved all of my criteria that I had, and
therefore would be of high quality. These are all strengths of my product, and implementing all
of these features gives it major strength in ensuring quality. I have evaluated personally how well
the product reaches each of the criteria. ​Refer to appendix H.
I have had an expert in the field of online marketing, to evaluate my ecommerce website for a
professional perspective. ​Refer to appendix I1
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I have had 10 different peers assess it as well, I did this so that I know how the users will feel
when using my ecommerce website, as by the end of the day, the user I will be selling my
products should understand and buy the products. ​Refer to appendix I2
From these evaluations, one can see that it is evident that my product reaches all criteria I had
set for it. It could have been improved however, as one of the responses said that: “the only way
to improve the e commerce website is to add more features and make it more attractive like
colorful posters,exciting offers and more user friendly.”
There are not a lot of weaknesses in the product, but more features would make it better.
From the above evaluation,we understand that it can be improved giving future potential.

Knowledge and understanding of the topic and global context developed

After completing, the reflecting part of my personal project, I can say that I have developed in
many different ways, let it be emotionally, physically or mentally. This journey has made me
grow as a person. I have gained a huge amount of knowledge from research (survey, interviews,
internet and articles). I can now go through challenges, work with high stress (both mentally and
emotionally), and I can produce products of high quality despite of having huge obstacles in my
journey. I have become more persistent, and will show the same in all the activities to make a
positive change.
By completing this project I have enlarged my knowledge of my topic and the global context, by
using this as an opportunity to develop an ecommerce website that shows my technical
innovation. I created a process journal, which guided me on the stage I am at and helped me
reflect on the new topics or skills I have learnt in that day (​Refer to Appendix A​). During the
completion of this project I faced many obstacles, the most resistant obstacle was when I had
“dengue”. This really pushed me back, as I was in mental and emotional stress because of the
pain and because I was lacking behind in academics. To overcome this problem I started to
create efficient timetable, for specific tasks, which made the process faster.
In hindsight however, I have thought of a few different solutions that might have worked, but in
the end it did not satisfy me. These were often caused by high pressure on academics or incorrect
coding in the website.
Before I started my journey, I had a very vague idea of creating and developing an ecommerce
website, but as I proceeded I became more specific and gained a huge knowledge and
understanding of my topic. This could be seen in the development of my research plan and
design specification (​Refer to appendix B and C)​. While developing my product, I also gained
a huge knowledge of my global context, which is “Scientific and technical innovation”. Prior to
the project, I thought of this global context just to be related to science and technology. But as
the journey proceeded I understood, the global context in detail.
Scientific and technical innovation is not just about science and technology, it talks about the
change needed to bring. This can be done through new ideas to make better and efficient
products. This helps humans to use and develop better results.. In short, it means “​how we
 12

understand the world in which we live”.​ Therefore, this global context suits my product as, I
have shown that we as humans, are always trying to develop and trying to find different
possibilities. The human growth is a way of identifying how they understand the world they are
living in. Innovation is improving the existing designs with new ideas and methods. I have done
this by using my knowledge of html [5]​​ and business to create a new ecommerce website. ​Refer
to appendix G
In this journey, I have learnt and developed many new concepts and skills. However, the most
important is the importance of developing new and sustainable ways of using technology that
benefits both the environment and human. Newton’s third law states that every action has an
equal or opposite reaction, therefore the action I have taken towards a sustainable development
will have a positive reaction to both, the environment and human. It is not a static
process,because of which it adapts to different needs and situations. Because different situations
can be solved using various methods, with more effective solutions.
Development as an IB learner
In this journey, I have developed as a person, especially as an IB learner. I have picked on many
skills and have also developed those skills. IB learner profiles are essential components of any IB
learner. The IB learner profile I developed significantly were, as follows:
1) Knowledgeable
The project gave me new information, such as using HTML coding which was greatly used in
making my ecommerce website. I continuously increased my knowledge about the topic with
research work, developing new ideas and improvements. I acquired a lot of complex knowledge,
and thus creating an ecommerce website.

-------------------
[5]​
HTML is also known as “HyperText Markup Language” which is basic computer language, used for making websites.

I learned concepts and ideas, and then i gave my learning techniques to many others through
my product. This greatly expanded my existing knowledge.

2) Thinker
I had many creative ideas for my personal project, like making a report on flight motion of a
water rocket, creating a RC quadcopter and perfecting a sport using physics. However, I
critically analyzed each idea based on the SMART goal and personal interest. As a result I ended
up, choosing an ecommerce website as my personal project idea.
3) Risk-Taker
I demonstrated the IB learner profile,a risk taker, in many instances while working on my
personal project. Creating and developing an ecommerce website is something which is
completely new to me, but I chose it so that it would be challenging. I also demonstrated risk
taker, by buying a website tool which was very tough to use.. However, these challenges made
me more confident as I found different way to deal with these obstacles.
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ATL skills are as important as IB learner profile in an IB learner. Approaches To Learning, ATL,
is also a major part of an IB learner. I have developed each ATL skill in the personal project
journey, this could be seen in the previous sections. Through the ATL skills I have understood
that education is not only about “what you learn” but also “how you learn”. In this project I have
learnt about ecommerce website through different ways such as interview, online research and
surveys. I have not only gained knowledge on my topic, but have also developed as a person
using the ATL skills. I learnt how to organize myself, which will be helpful throughout my life
(organization). I have learnt to critically analyze information and use the knowledge gained in
different areas (transfer). ​Refer to appendix J
In the personal project journey I have learned many new ways of expressing myself and have
also developed new skills which will be used in the future as well. After this personal project I
have understood that is their a huge amount of knowledge still to acquire, therefore I should
continue learning new skills throughout my life, because I want to be a lifelong learner.
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Appendices:
Appendix A: Process Journal
1) Choosing The Topic
I have many ideas like writing a report on the velocity of water rocket and its path, making a
solar panel, making a perpetual motion machine, create a source of free energy, perfect a sport
using physics and creating a quadcopter. These ideas are creative but are not challenging or real.
There is one such topic which has caught my attention which is creating an ecommerce website,
this is challenging and could be achieved with hardwork and determination.
To achieve the goal of creating an ecommerce website I must first research on the current
ecommerce websites. Then to plan about my design of the ecommerce website. Then i will have
to create the e commerce website. So these are an outline of the steps which I should follow to
achieve my goal.
Action Arising---> Finalize the Goal
Questions to follow upon---> How to create an ecommerce website?
2) Research- Evaluating Source- Prior Knowledge-Inquiry Question
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Appendix B:Primary and Secondary Data collection- compare and contrast multimedia
resources-Connection between various sources
What will How will I gather How will I gather Why will I research this Priorit
I research Information information information (limitation and y
(Primary Source) (Secondary Research) benefits)

Backgrou Internet Surfing:- I want to find out what the 1

nd I will use the internet personal project is about and
Research. to search through the what it includes. This is
below topics: important as it helps me
1. Common personal understand the main motive
project topics. of the project and also
2. Global Context enhances my skills.
definition
3. Importance of goal
4. What are the ATL
skills.

Existing Pictures: Online Surfing: This will help me to get 2

Designs I will browse through I will surf through the creative ideas of the digital
(field known e-commerce internet to find various designs on the market. I can
research) websites such as flipkart, designs and choose one compare designs and their
nykaa and or two designs for feature to find out which
amazon.workstation analyzing. one suits my specification
designs of my client the best. I will also look at
which she had. the features of the website to
see how they function.

End User Interview (face to face): This will help me to 3

(business I will interview two understand, the main areas
man (Raj businessman/women on of research I should focus
Jain) and the budget and products on and the solutions to the
a for the ecommerce. I will major problem. Using this
business interview I could also
also ask them where
woman analyse the existing
there is more stress faced
(Santosh products and find the fault
Dungarw while creating the in it so that I don’t repeat
al) website and the ways to the same mistake.
overcome them.

Measure Interview (short)- Online Research I will ask Mr. Raj for the 4
ment I will ask Mr. Raj, to (e-books)- product description so that I
(Data provide me with the I am also going to find can make my ecommerce
collection details of the product and some bookish data design based on them. I will
on final discussing each product from the Internet. I will also ask him to show me the
product) in detail. focus on the e prices of the product which
 17

commerce books will help me get an idea of

which are available. I the profit margin I should
will also find the prices keep. I also need to compare
at which other people the profit margin I am
are selling the same keeping, with other websites
product and their to know if my prices are
prices. cheap and affordable.

Materials Interview and photos This is very important as I 5

Research (Email or phone call):- need to find the website tool
(Field I will have to research to use and what challenges I
Research) and find out what should be prepared. I need
website tool I will use to to choose suitable products
make the website which have lower price
according to my compared to other websites
specifications. I will and a big price margin. I
conduct an interview also need to analyse the
with Mr. Mohit, a existing websites with Mr.
professional website Mohit to get a professional
developer. In this view on the website design.
interview I will ask him
the best website tool to
use for beginners and the
challenges I should be
prepared for. I
specifically asked him
the type of domain to use
such as .com, .net and
the display page to use
like static or dynamic. I
also took pictures of
some professional
websites.

Market Interview (Phone call): This will be an addon to my 6

Research I will conduct an previous research on
interview with Mr. market. This interview will
Pankaj Sethia, Mrs. help me understand the
Khushali Dungarwal and highest selling materials for
Mrs. Santosh the website. This interview
Dungarwal. In the will also help me make a
interview I will budget that I can propose to
understand the market myself on the website I will
flow so, that it can help make.
me design a cost
efficient ecommerce
website. I will also ask
 18

them about what

materials are highly sold
and why.

Target Survey: This will allow me to 7

Market I will conduct a survey understand how my website
Research to a range of people who will impact other people
are regular online who are using it. The survey
buyers. I am going to will give me area's I could
make my website for the work on and give me
people who use “health creative ideas. This will also
and beauty” products. So help me verify if I have met
I am going to hand out all my success criteria.
my questionnaire to at
least 10-15 people
between the ages of
20-45.

Additiona Internet Surfing:- This research is important as 8

l I will use the internet one of my inquiry question
Research to search through the is to “How to create a cost
below topics: efficient ecommerce
1. Common website”. So this additional
ecommerce research will help me find a
designs sustainable design, page
2. Ecommerce pages setup and a website tool to
setup help me achieve my goal.
3. Ecommerce This research will also give
website tool me future insights on the
prices. project I am making.
4. Trends of
ecommerce

Appendix C: Success Criteria

Evaluation What should it include

Criteria

A. Content 1) The website gives relevant information about the product.

2) The website has details and information that is easily

understood by the target audience

3) The website has a help component for users to clarify their

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doubts.

4) The website provides information about the price of the

product.

5) The website provides information about the shipping details and

information.

6) The website provides information about the payments and

policies.

7) The website allows users to give feedback.

B. Functionality 1) The website is easy to navigate through the web.

2) The users can easily put their information like customer

information, their orders and their wishlist.

3) The website has the feature of safe online transaction by a SSL

certificate.

4) The website has a shopping cart and order summary for easy
shopping.

5) The website shows products that are popular or new arrivals.

C. Legal Protection 1) The website provides information about the developer and
the maintainer of the website with their credibility.

2) The website should have legal rights.

3) The users are assured for the protection of their information

regarding privacy and security concerns.

D. Attractiveness 1) The elements to make the website beautiful (graphics,

animation etc) were used creatively and appealingly.

2) The website contained attractive advertisements.

3)The website is visually attractive, with a positive online

experience that can be shared to a user.

Appendix D: Long and Short term plan

The long term plan is as follows:

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What To Do Why To Do Deadline How Will I Do

Learn the basic To understand the June 25 I will achieve this by learning
concepts of business way a consumer 2017 each concept in a 5 day period
studies and learn the behaves and to know and go to every tution class so
ways to use the how to create a online that I don’t miss any point.
online platform like website so, that I will
wix, weebly etc, get a starting point to
through tuition. make my product.

Decide the topic and To get a clear idea on July 11 2017 I will achieve this by Creating
frame an objective what my research a chart and will write down all
goal for research focus should be on the topics I have in mind and
and to make progress will chose the topic which best
in the personal interests me.
project.

Decide the product To analyze the July 17 2017 I will research on the different
research content and product outcomes and select
extract the the outcome which best suit
information which is my interest.
relevant.

Submit the first draft To receive feedback August 10 I will achieve this by working
of the project from my supervisor, 2017 on my project on the basis of
investigation report. personal project my timeline and research plan.
coordinator and myp
coordinator.

Plan for the product To organize my August 22 I will achieve this by

(criteria and plan) project so that it can 2017 submitting my task on time to
be completed reduce the burden and working
efficiently. efficiently

Submit the first draft To receive feedback August 30 I will achieve this by working
of the project from my supervisor, 2017 on my project on the basis of
planning report. personal project my timeline and research plan.
coordinator and myp
coordinator.

Start creating the To complete the September I will achieve this by working
product according to creation of my goal. 15 2017 daily on each step for creating
the plan my product.

Submit the first draft To receive feedback September I will achieve this by working
of the project taking from my supervisor, 25 2017 on my project on the basis of
 21

action report. personal project my timeline.

coordinator and myp
coordinator.

Evaluate the product To receive feedback November I will achieve this by

from classmates, 15 2017 interviewing people and taking
teachers and family. surveys.
For an effective
creation of the
product

Complete the final Official deadline to December I will achieve this by working
report. submit the personal 15 2017 on each step of my product
project properly with taking the
feedback into consideration.

The short term plan I followed for most of the tasks was as follows:

1) Collect Data
2) Analyze the data
3) Compare the data with your expectations
4) Observe
5) Make a final statement with justification
The above steps help me to develop my research to create my product in an efficient way.

Appendix E: Choosing what website maker tool to use

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After critically analysing each website maker tool, I have decided to use “Zencommerce”.
The reason is very straightforward, “Zencommerce” meets all my requirements for the
success criteria and also has a low cost compared to other tools. Although it is hard to use,
due to HTML, but the more the challenges I face, the more I will learn. Therefore
“Zencommerce” is an ideal website maker tool.
Appendix F: Gantt Chart
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 24

Link:-
https://docs.google.com/a/sis.edu.in/spreadsheets/d/1L4v9yvrCvktmhLkX4kMs9v-v8B7WO_aN
q-gIrP1IJW4/edit?usp=sharing
Appendix G: Product Relation To Global Context and Interaction with supervisor.
The global context, scientific and technical innovation revolves around “How the world works:
an inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical
and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific
principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the
environment.”
I believe that my product correlates with the impact of the global context on my personal project,
especially “ the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human
societies” and “the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the
environment”. Online shops (E-commerce) “use 30 % less energy than traditional retail
operations, according to a study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University.” The global context
is all about the sustainable innovations which is what I showed in my product. Therefore, I think
I have demonstrated that we as humans have unquestionable dependency upon environmental
factors and in order to make our human ingenuity shine with, we must take in account the
environment first.
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Appendix H: Evaluating the product against the criteria

Evaluation What should it include Evaluation

Criteria Specification...

A. Content 1) The website gives Fully achieved, as the e-commerce

relevant information website gives specific description for
about the product. each product.

2) The website has details and Fully achieved, as the e-commerce

information that is easily website provides simple language
understood by the target which is understood by most of the
audience people.

3) The website has a help Partially achieved, as the e-commerce

component for users to clarify website has a contact information page
their doubts. which allows people to contact the
owner of the website to clarify their
doubt.

4) The website provides Fully achieved, as the e-commerce

information about the price of website provides the price for each
the product. product in the display icon itself.

5) The website provides Fully achieved, as the e-commerce

information about the shipping website provides details for returns,
details and information. terms and conditions, shipping and
payment methods.

6) The website provides Fully achieved, as the e-commerce

information about the payments website provides details for returns,
and policies. terms and conditions, shipping and
payment methods.

7) The website allows users to Partially achieved, as website doesn’t

give feedback. have a specific page page for feedback
however, there is a way to rate the
product which is also a form of
feedback.

B. Functionalit 1) The website is easy to Fully achieved, as the website is easily

y navigate through the accessible through the web because of
web. SEO settings.

2) The users can easily put their
information like customer
information, their orders and
their wishlist.
3) The website has the feature of
safe online transaction by a SSL
certificate.
4) The website has a shopping
cart and order summary for easy
shopping.
5) The website shows products
that are popular or new arrivals.
C. Legal 1) The website provides
Protection information about the
developer and the
maintainer of the website
with their credibility.
2) The website should have legal Fully achieved, as the website is made
rights. under the company “Hill Valley
Distribution”. So, it is legal.
3) The users are assured for the
protection of their information
regarding privacy and security
concerns.
D. Attractivene 1) The elements to make
ss the website beautiful
(graphics, animation etc)
26
Fully achieved, as to purchase any
product the user, should add their
information. To order products they
should just click the option add to cart
and the product will be on the cart.
There is also a wishlist icon, which
should just be clicked to put it in the
wishlist product page.
Partially achieved, as the website has a
basic SSL certificate which is not very
secure. I could have bought a highly
secure SSL certificate but the prices
were too high, so I had to make the
decision if I have to include it or not
and I chose to not include it for now.
Fully achieved, as the website has a
shopping cart which is easily accessible
and has an order summary at the end of
the shopping.
Fully achieved, as the website
differentiates products, which are
highly popular and are new to the
website.
Fully achieved, as the website has a
contact information page which has all
the information about the developer,
and the maintainer of the website.
Partially achieved, as the basic SSL
certificate will only provide weak
firewall. So, it is safe from threats such
as virus, but not from more complex
threats.
Fully achieved, as I have used a variety
of elements such as static pictures,
sliding/moving pictures and outer
 27

were used creatively and background.

appealingly.

2) The website contained Not achieved, as getting different

attractive advertisements.
companies to advertise is difficult. The
reason behind this is that, the website
has just started so no companies would
be willing to advertise their business in
a newly founded website.

3)The website is visually Fully achieved, as the website has been

attractive, with a positive online given attractive visual colors like pink
experience that can be shared to and other light colors which helps the
a user. eyes feel soothing.

Appendix I: Survey and interview

Survey Question and Results:-
With the growing world of technology, sending and receiving survey information has become
very easy and efficient. So, below are the results of the survey conducted to test my product
using google forms.
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Interview-
Today I had an interview with Mr. Mohit, who is a professional ecommerce developer and has
developed many e commerce websites. Below are the questions asked to him.
What are the common features that are necessary for e commerce website? Do you think I
have implemented them?
“As a web developer, I have always been developing applications such as e commerce websites
and many more. From my point of view there is no limit to the number of features a website can
have. As, a website can be made with very less features or it can be made of many features. From
my point of view adding features is just a way of making the application easier to use. In your
application you have used various feature to make it more user friendly, so it is good. And as you
said you have set some criterias for the application, so if you have met most of them, then this
means that it has implemented most the feature which is required.”
Do you consider the website to be of high quality? If yes why?
 30

“There is no such definite answer to your question as when I create an application, the quality is
measured through the clients requirements. If it has satisfied most of the requirements then it is
of high quality and vice versa.--------- So you have met all the criterias you have set, so the
product should be of high quality. The e commerce website you have created is good and from
my perspective it is an excellent product coming out of a 14 year old child. You have
implemented various features and have also opted a challenging website builder tool even though
I gave you many other easy website tool options. So it is an awesome product.”
Does the website have a good functionality?
The website has a good functionality. The website is easy to navigate, it has a good Search
Engine Optimization setting, and carries out all the other features which other e commerce
website has.
Do you think the website could be improved? If yes, how?
My teacher at school always used to tell me that “there is always something better”. This phrase
has played a huge role in my life and has helped me become who I am today. As the time you
think that something is the best, then you will never develop. So, there are many ways you can
improve your website by creating apps, adapting to other technologies and many more. So, there
is always scope of learning.
Do you think ecommerce website is a important step towards our technological
advancement and development as a human being?
“Yes, application such as e commerce will play a huge role in impacting our development, both
as a person and as a global community. E commerce will provide variety of cultures to work
together more efficiently. It will also promote people and organization to work as one body. This
will also reduce the gap between the two genders due to technological advancement. This will
also increase our government revenue as there will be less black market, which means more
development in all the sectors. This is the main reason why our prime minister Mr. Narendra
Modi, introduced the “Digital India” scheme. As e commerce develops the creators of future
technology will be people and groups with several skills. E commerce websites will significantly
reduce the power marketing departments had.”
Appendix J:Development as a learner
In consultation with my mentor/supervisor, we thought that my final product met most of my
criteria in terms of content, functionality, legal protection and attractiveness. However there were
some sub criterias which were not fully met or not met like “safe online transaction by SSL
certificate” which was partially met as the cost of SSL certificate was too high, so the online
transaction did not have a strong firewall security. My mentor and I agreed that the product fell
short of some of some sub criteria such as assured protection, doubt clarification and feedback
page. In the following ways,
1) Price: High prices often limited the approach to a high quality product.
2) Time: Due to pressure on academics and other activities, the time for creating the product
reduced.
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3) Ineffective Solutions: The solutions which were planned to overcome some issues such as
adding a feedback section to the website failed.

My knowledge has been extended as a result of this project in many ways, like I got to know
more about the world in which we live in, the advances of science and technology, procedure to
be developed before completing any task and learnt HTML coding. I have developed as an IB
learner in many areas such as development of ATL skills and IB learner profiles. The most
challenging experience in this journey was to develop the ecommerce website, as when I
explored the tool I got know that the tool required knowledge about coding. It became even more
challenging when there was high academic pressure (many tasks) and I was also suffering from
Dengue. However, due to meditation, efficient time table plannings and the zeal to work, I
finished all my pending assignments and had plenty of time to spend on learning coding. Though
there were some flaws in my product, I am proud of what I have achieved and the skills I have
gained in this journey.​ ​If I were to attempt a similar project in the future I would try to make it a
more developed than the previous design. This would only happen if I would reinforce all my
skills and knowledge to its optimum level. Making a similar type of project will not only help me
understand the ways I can develop my previous design, it will also help me find out the smallest
error I have made in my previous design, this will help me expand my knowledge and will also
help me develop and learn many other skills.

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Product Pictures
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